Nursing
Adult Nursing
Adult nurses meet the needs of the largest group of patients accessing health care. They work in a wide range of acute, preventative and continuing care areas in hospitals and in the community. Because patients have many different needs, adult nurses must have an in-depth knowledge base and a broad range of skills. For example, they need to be able to react immediately in an emergency situation, to listen to and support patients and their families, to work as part of a multidisciplinary team and to deliver high quality patient care and education.
Within different adult care environments, nurses use a problem-solving approach to patient care. This involves assessing patients’ health care needs and selecting, implementing and evaluating appropriate nursing interventions to meet them. This is done in partnership with the patient and their family/carers. The knowledge and skills you develop will depend upon the individual patient and the focus of the care setting. For example, when caring for a patient who has had a stroke, nursing care is directed towards maximising the patient’s independence. It involves helping them to adapt to a changed level of functioning.
Adult nurses also co-ordinate services and liaise with the hospital and community-based multidisciplinary team to identify and provide the best package of care for the patient. For example, in acute areas such as general surgery, nurses work with doctors, physiotherapists and other members of the team to safely prepare patients physically and mentally for their operations.
Where possible, adult patients are cared for in the community and many
nurses care for patients at home and in community-based services. Here,
district nurses and practice nurses use preventative health care measures
to maximise the patient’s health status and prevent illness occurring.
They also provide care that enables patients to stay in their own home
with as little interruption to their life as possible.